Gene R. DeFoliart

Insects as human food: Gene DeFoliart discusses some nutritional and economic aspects

Abstract During the past few years there has been a new upsurge of interest in insects as food. One factor that may be responsible is an increasing awareness in the western world that insects are traditional and nutritionally important foods for many non-European cultures. Other factors may be increased pride in ethnic roots and traditions, increased concern about environment and overuse of pesticides, and better communication among scientists who are interested in the subject. Edible insects may be closer now than ever before to acceptance in the western world as a resource that should be considered in trying to meet the worlds present and future food needs.

Edible insects as minilivestock

Many species of insects (probably 1000 or more) have served as traditional foods among indigenous peoples, especially in warmer climes, and the insects have played an important role in the history of human nutrition. As part of the hunter-gatherer style of life, the main criteria for selection of these traditional species appears to be medium-to-large size and easy availability, i.e., abundance, as noted by Dufour and others. Thus it is not surprising that many insects considered as crop pests in modern agriculture have served as important food sources. Locusts and grasshoppers, which often occur in swarms, are good examples, and these insects have been included in the diets of almost every culture with any history of food-insect use.

An overview of the role of edible insects in preserving biodiversity

In this discussion the principle is adopted that factors tending to increase food and/or income for economically marginal rural families, while decreasing pressure for land‐clearing, pesticides and intensive agriculture, will tend to favor the preservation of biodiversity and a sustainable future. The great diversity of habitats of insect species that serve as traditional foods presents an almost endless diversity of situations in which recognition and enlightened management of the food insect resource can result not only in better human nutrition but simultaneously aid in maintaining diversity of habitats for other forms of life. Approaches include: 1) Enhancing forest conservation and management by acting on the desire of local populations for protection of traditional insect foods (i.e., caterpillars in Zambia and Zaire) 2) Reducing poaching in parks and wildlife preserves by allowing sustainable use of the food insect resources by the local people (i.e., caterpillars in Malawi) 3) Reducing pesticide u...

Food, Insects as

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses insects as foods. The insects used as food are, for the most part, clean living in their choice of food and habitat. Most feed on leaves or other parts of plants. Some of the coleopterous and lepidopterous larvae are woodborers in either dead or living trees and bushes; some, such as cicada nymphs, feed on plant roots. Some hemipterans and coleopterans are aquatic, and some of these and other edible insects are predaceous. Some hymenopterans such as wasps provision their nests with insect prey upon which the young feed. Some edible species have other aesthetic qualities. Some African termites are architects, erecting earthen cathedral–like termitaria that may rise to heights of 3 or 4 m or more. Cicadas and crickets are songsters. There are many environmental and ecological ramifications relevant to the use of insects as food. Because of the large number of insect species and the consequently wide variety of plants used as hosts, in general, insects are potentially capable of converting a much wider range of vegetation and waste substances into animal biomass than are the animals currently considered acceptable as food by Western cultures.

The Use of Biodegradable Pesticides in Public Health Entomology

In his presidential address to the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, W. C. Reeves (1972) asked: “Can the war to contain infectious diseases be lost?” That remains a good question today. One must realize how fragile our ability is to control arthropod-borne disease. After malaria was reduced in India from 750 million cases and 750,000 deaths per year prior to 1953 (Wattal, 1971) to only 100,000 cases per year during the mid-1960s, we have witnessed a resurgence to 5 million cases in 1976 and to 10 million cases during the first 9 months of 1977 (Akhtar and Learmonth, 1977). In India, 122 million people live at risk of filariasis (Wattal, 1971). Outbreaks of dengue and Chikungunya viruses occur repeatedly, and less than a year ago an epidemic of Japanese encephalitis resulted in 5359 confirmed and clinically suspected cases and 1869 deaths (U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, 1978).